


The Lost Children of Battle Royale by Beniko Nakamura

by kangeiko



Category: Battle Royale (2000)
Genre: Character of Color, Female Character of Color, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-06
Updated: 2007-05-06
Packaged: 2017-10-08 14:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/pseuds/kangeiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An editorial on the fall-out of the BR Act.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lost Children of Battle Royale by Beniko Nakamura

  
**The Lost Children of Battle Royale**  
by **Beniko Nakamura**

**  
"There wasn't any choice in the end," Aiko* says, twisting a strand of hair around one finger nervously. She sips her latte quickly, as if afraid that someone will take it away - or that she will have to abruptly leave it. "That's what they told us, anyway. The survivor gets so much publicity, and some of it is always negative. It was supposed to be for the child's own protection, and the parents volunteered for it. We all did." She stares down at remnants of her chocolate chip cookie.**

Aiko is the elder sister of Keiko Tanaka, one of the first survivors of Battle Royale, four years ago. When her sister emerged victorious, she, along with her entire family, was offered the option of entering the Witness Protection Programme in Nagasaki. Accepting the necessity for this, Aiko agreed, and was relocated to a better university in Nagasaki. Her father was offered a new job, and her mother took up pottery in an evening class. Keiko was enrolled in a new class, and a state-paid child psychologist made weekly visits to their new house.

"Keiko didn't like the psychologist," Aiko recalls. "She said he didn't know what he was talking about, that he - he looked at her like a little girl." At twelve years old, wasn't he right? Wasn't Keiko a little girl still? "No. How can you think that?" But that's precisely what the government thought, immediately after the implementation of the Battle Royale Act. They took steps to tackle the growing problem of the nation's youth, correctly identifying the threat they posed as a group - but incorrectly deciding that, as individuals, children were defenceless.

When Keiko broke cover and killed her psychologist, her teacher and several children she declared a 'threat', no one was more surprised than the BR Act's architects. The murders were investigated quietly, and settled just as quietly. The families of those killed were amply compensated, and Keiko - and her family - were moved to new identities with stricter controls on Keiko's behaviour and access to weapons.

Three months later, the family was forced to move again. "We've moved eight - no, nine - times now. The last time was over a year ago." What changed? Aiko brightens. "Amendment B was introduced," she says proudly.

One of the consequences of the BR Act was the little-known Witness Protection Act Amendment Part B, otherwise known as the Involuntary Witness Protection Programme. Our correspondent, Beniko Nakamura spoke to the main proponents of the Amendment when it was first introduced into law some 18 months ago.

"The growing number of survivors retaining their learned skills and applying them to the general populace is a considerable cause for concern," the Mayor of Kyoto, Namihiko Itou, explained. "The Battle Royale Act was designed to curb the number of youth-related attacks, not to increase their severity." While the BR Act has succeeded in lowering the number of violent attacks and curbing youth-related problems such as alcohol abuse, absenteeism and disrespectful behaviour, more serious crimes such as mass murder and terminating youths without a BR warrant were on the increase. "We had to create an entirely new crime category - BR-related unlawful killings - for the acts perpetrated by the BR survivors."

While some human rights groups -the same groups who had protested about the BR Act being implemented - opposed the Amendment, it went generally unopposed in its passage through the Chambers. "People saw the need for it, and acted accordingly," Mayor Itou said. "What was the alternative?"

What does Aiko think of the Amendment? Hers was one of the first families affected by it. "Oh, it was _brilliant_!" She says, brightening immediately. "We had to move one last time, to be close enough to a facility, but I didn't mind so much. They did the whole thing again - university for me, job for father, an evening class for mother." And for her sister? "A place in the programme. She's now in special classes, not a normal school, and they put her on a regimen of drugs and hypno-therapy. It's wonderful, she's almost normal again."

Does Mayor Itou think that the BR Act and all of the various programmes that followed are worth it? Speaking to us just a few weeks ago, Mayor Itou stuck to his previous convictions. "Definitely. We have to curb youth crime and deal with the growing threat it poses. The BR Act has been the most effective way to deal with problem children."

The ironic part is that, before participating in Battle Royale, Keiko had been a model student. "She liked school," Aiko says quietly. "She couldn't wait to graduate and go on to university. She wanted to be a teacher."

With sixteen kills outside of the Battle Royale framework and an impressive resume, Keiko Tanaka just might get her wish.

  
_* not her real name._

*

fin


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